Update, 30 October 2010. Zinke’s name appears in a pro-Skees advertisement in the Whitefish Pilot. It is therefore possible that his oped ed is nothing more than a “please vote” public service announcement. I’m leaving the post below unaltered, as even if it overreaches, it represents an ideal — that there are still decent Republicans who reject tea party extremes and Civil War revisionism.
This is the act of an honest man: in his 27 October 2010 oped in the Whitefish Pilot, Ryan Zinke, the Republican state senator representing Whitefish and Columbia Falls, did not get squarely behind fellow Republican Derek Skees. Instead, he wrote:
At the local level, the big event is the house race to fill the seat vacated by the Honorable Mike Jopek. It’s a tight race between Derek Skees, a Republican, versus Will Hammerquist, representing the Democrat side. Aside from all the negative campaign tactics, the truth is that the two candidates are very different and your vote matters.
Derek Skees is a conservative who champions cutting government, state sovereignty, strong property rights and believes that economic recovery is best achieved through the free market. If you believe in those ideals, Derek is your man. Will Hammerquist, is a moderate with a background in environmental non-profit organizations and is an advocate for government-funded health care and conservation easements, and supports the use of government subsidies and tax credits for economic recovery. If you believe in those ideals, mark Will on your ballot.
Talk about damning with faint praise! The “…two candidates are very different and your vote matters.” In my book, that’s a backdoor endorsement of Will Hammerquist.